Prayer to St. Francis for Lent

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope; 

where there is darkness, light; 

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive; 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 

Amen

     After the genocide, I suffered terribly from missing the presence of my parents, my brothers, and my grandparents;  I never knew that the quality of their unconditional love would not exist elsewhere.  Losing it, not from one of them, but all of them at the same time, left a huge emptiness in my heart, only long prayers and conversations with God could convince me that I was taken care of.  Once, someone who heard my story told me words that surely came from God and comforted me a lot.  He said, “You don’t seem broken as many survivors, but what you are missing is the affection of your loved ones, which can be as hurtful as anything else…” and then he said “However, in God’s infinite wisdom, what you are lacking you can still get. They're are two ways, you can get it: by giving it, especially to those who need it most, the orphans, the sick, the homeless... or from people who can love you genuinely…”  He also said something that was very meaningful “However, you can’t order people to love you unconditionally, you might be lucky to have those kind of people come into your life, but you don’t have to wait, the most sure way is the first one, to give that affection to those in need. That you can control!”  

      From then, I started to go to visit the children of the Mother Theresa orphanage, and I played with them, danced and sung with them. The wise man was right, my heart was full of joy and love. What amazed me is that he told me to give it to those who need it most if I truly want to experience unconditional love back!  My friends laugh at me when I tell them that God is very smart and truly very kind; you see, He told us to love one another as the greatest commandment; He knew how important this was, and how much we would need to love one another to be able to live this life; this was for our sakes, and so is everything He tells us in the bible, I mean everything!  He is like a parent who tells you to eat vegetables when all you want is cookies for dinner! As a child we don’t know, we just want to get what we like, not necessarily always, what is good for us; hurry to find out what He truly wants and let us try to do it without questioning Him or taking it lightly. 

     This prayer of St. Francis, is like a quick summation of the messages of the bible for me, it doesn’t get old, I can meditate on each word I've heard many times, yet I still find something that inspires me to live better.  When I found myself in a hard situation like that after the war, and I was missing my family or a friend to console me and to understand me, I reminded my heart of those words, “That I might not seek so much to be consoled as to console…”.   Though it was at times, a bitter-sweet place to be,  in the end if I only tried to redirect my heart towards consoling others and not expecting anything in return, it was then I was always the happiest. 

     St. Francis was right “It is in giving that we receive…”.  During this lent, I challenge myself and all of you, my friends, to try to encourage others daily, those around us, to use uplifting, loving, kind words when you are tempted not to.   Care for other people’s feelings of course without compromising the truth; sometimes silence is gold.  In your daily lives, give hope when there seems to be no hope, smile to the one who is sad, don’t hurry to judge, be grateful for the kindness you took for granted around you. I challenge you to think or write down a few things each day that you are grateful about, that you thank God for; it can be a gentle smile you received from a stranger when you needed it or someone who opened a door for you; you will quickly see how much God loves you, and you will want to give back that love!

Have a fruitful lent,

Immaculee

For My Facebook Friends and Blog Readers!

Dear Friends,


I want to thank you for the beautiful messages you have been posting on my Facebook page. I always read them with great interest. I keep you in my prayers and smile when I am praying!


It is a wonderful joy for me to be in touch with you through the Internet and speak to you in my tours. During my travels, I meet so many wonderful people. When people share how my story has touched them and changed their lives, it gives me a deeper understanding of why I had to experience what I did.  After all, we don’t live for ourselves alone, and our ultimate life is not here, anyway.


Your love is healing many survivors in Rwanda who otherwise would think that their pain and loss was worthless. Now they know that they are not alone. The world is crying for them, praying for them and learning from their pain.


When I was writing Left To Tell, I got stuck often. The only times I found it possible to write was when I envisioned my audience as my best friends. Only then was my heart able to open up and pour out the types of secrets that you only tell your friends. I thank you for responding to that.


I especially want to thank the young people I meet in schools—the ones who hear my story and who share the pain in their own lives. They sometimes describe how Left To Tell taught them that they don’t have to give up their zeal to study hard no matter what might be hurting in life, and to treat each other kindly. It is always uplifting to hear that.


When I was writing, I was often conflicted about whether or not to tell about some of the things that happened, especially when I thought about the young and innocent souls that would read the book and be so disappointed in humanity. We bring the young into the world with the intention of giving them a chance to have a good life, with the intention to love and protect. The young people who would read the book, I worried, might come to realize that we are not who they expected us to be.


Then I remembered that things like genocide don't exclude the young, which gave me the strength to share, hoping that maybe everyone would draw some lessons from this sad reality. Ultimately, I hoped, my readers would come to know what truly matters in life and what causes all these bad things. The genocide was caused by hatred. Only love will heal our world.


Beyond the genocide, however, my hope is that my story will continue to let you know—collectively and individually—that no matter who you are and no matter what you go through, please ignore the voice that tells you that you don’t matter, that you deserve the bad you go through, that you are not forgiven, that you are not beautiful, that nothing can change, that you are alone, that your life is over, that you are not loved, that you are too weak, too big, too small, it is too late, your efforts will amount to nothing…


Instead, listen to the voice that tells you it will be okay, don’t give up, the mess of today can be a blessing of tomorrow, God who made me is Almighty, He can do things for me, He forgives me and heals me, hold on to hope, don’t give up, love one another, I can do anything through God who makes me strong, forgive and forgive yourself…


For inspiration, look at what other people have suffered and have conquered. Consider and read the lives of the saints like St. Francis, St. Theresa, and others, and learn from them. Look at those who are our heros, people like Mandela and Mother Theresa. Even if you were to face death, or lose a loved one, remember that even in dying, we don’t lose if we have done our best. We can still die in peace and hope, because Heaven exists and Heaven is a paradise. Hold on to God no matter what, and try to do what pleases Him. Most of all, do not fear!


I want to thank all of those who have joined Apostles of Our Lady of Kibeho on Facebook, where we share the messages of Kibeho and share our journeys of faith! Mary, the Mother of God and Our Mother, who was given to us by Jesus when He was on the cross, came to prepare us in Rwanda. She came to remind us that we were not alone, that God loves us and that we have Her as a Mother. She came to warn us so that we could avoid the genocide, but we did not listen. Please listen to Her. It is not too late! She said that Her messages concern all of us in the world, and She pleads with us to know Her as Our Mother and talk to Her often. She wants us to help each other grow in faith. Thank you for doing it.


Love and blessings,


Immaculee


PS:    Somebody wrote this poem yesterday after I spoke at Yale University when I was signing books.  
Wow! It's beautiful and I love it!

The Cry Of God

The play ground was bare as the swing sets swayed in the wind

The echo of children’s laughter was silent

The cries of death already in the grave

The graves are not full yet

A war grew deeper in my heart

The anticipation of sure death was agonizing

As we huddled in deafening silence

Our eyes screamed with fear

Our hearts pounded the bony chest wall of our rib cage

As if it wanted to leap for freedom

The smell of death and horror permeated the air

I never had the chance to think before or did I

The church was riddled with bullets as the Virgin Mary statue gazed in horror

The floor screamed with the blood stains of my brothers and sister

This was living hell or was it

When I had to make friend with God

That was a so-real moment

They never found me, but I found myself

I prayed until I found peace

I learned how to love through the deepest 
and darkest moments of hate and pain

My soul ached for the bloodshed of my people

The sun hid her face from the rain clouds

As God cried….

Written by: Janice M. Hart. February 5, 2010

Valentine Receives a Message from Jesus

At the retreat in Canton, Ohio on January 16, 2009: Our Lord gave a message to Immaculee's guest, the visionary, Valentine whom she brought to share her story. While in Ohio, Jesus came to visit Valentine, and left her the following message for all of us. Since it was posted on Facebook, many people have requested that Immaculee provide us with a written translation, since the audio is low.

Valentine gives the message in Kinyarwanda language and Immaculee translates in English

FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON THE APOSTLES OF OUR LADY OF KIBEHO FACEBOOK PAGE:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1378878151455

Song:

Kundwa kundwa Mariya, kundwa, kundwa, kundwa Mariya(Be loved, be loved Mary, be loved, be loved, be loved Mary)

Nzajya mbwira umuntu wese ukumbaza, nti uwabyaye Imana nta kintu basa…(I will tell everyone who asks me of you, that the one who gave birth to God, there is nothing compares to Her).

Kundwa kundwa Mariya, kundwa, kundwa, kundwa Mariya(Be loved, be loved Mary, be loved, be loved, be loved Mary)

Umukene munsi nta numwe numva wapfanye agahinda kandi akuvuga (I have never heard anyone dying in sorrow, and yet calling you his or her mother)

Kundwa kundwa Mariya, kundwa, kundwa, kundwa Mariya(Be loved, be loved Mary, be loved, be loved, be loved Mary)

Immaculee: “Valentine still gets private messages from Our Lady and Our Lord; last night she got a message from Our Lord.”

Valentine: “The message I have for you is, when I left yesterday I didn’t sleep last night, I have a program of prayers I normally have to follow daily that I was given by heaven. So, because yesterday we were busy, and I didn’t get time to do my prayers, I said them when I got to my room. Since I didn’t have much time to sleep, I was actually happy, because it gave me time to pray for you, and to think of you, and to thank God for this great work that is being done. So during my prayer, around 4:00 a.m., Jesus came to visit me. Immaculee will forgive me because in the morning she kept asking me if He came or Our Lady came…and I didn’t give an answer (laughs). He said this to me:”

Jesus: “My children I love you, and I want you to grow in love, I give you my love, do not have fear, do not have fear to pray, don’t have fear to talk about the one you love. Ask me; I will give you, my children I sent you my instrument, because I love you, and because I want her to keep you in prayer. My children, you are my family; pray a prayer that comes from the heart that shows in your action, in your behavior, and in your love that you show your neighbors. Always be ready, because you don’t know the day and time that I will come back. There will be miracles; there will be people who will do miracles in my name, the one who doesn’t pray will not understand. They will come; those who call themselves by my name, but if you remain in my love, you will be given light, you will know what is true and not. I want you to remain wrapped in the mantle of My Mother I love very much, because we never separate, where She is, I am also. Say the Rosary everyday it is your daily food for your soul and body, your daily protection and your spiritual strength. My children, I am love and I give you my love and I promise, I will never leave you alone.”

Valentine: Those are the words He gave me, and then I asked Him, that there is somebody who asked me if He ever gave me any message specifically for America?

Jesus: “Tell them I love you my children.” And then He asked me to sing this song, and He told me, “It is also a message”.

Listen to me little children,

I have given you a heritage of Love,

Make it your goal wherever you go,

Let it be your jewel that you wear day and night,

Do not let anything scare you.

Be good to one another, the other is a part of me as well,

And if the other is being difficult and pushing you away,

Call upon me so we can go together,

I promise you, after time, he/she will change come back in peace,

And if you find that you are the one being difficult, not being loving, call me to help you as

well, you are also sick. Do not worry, I have conquered and have enthroned love.

Valentine:

He told me to give you His message without adding or taking anything away; that is the message He gave me to give you.

Valentine: But from my heart, I want to thank you; to thank Immaculee who invited me to come here. There is a time I feel lonely, to be an orphan is not easy even though I have to remind myself that I am not alone, I have Our Lady and Our Lord. I do thank Immaculee, because she have been a true sister, and I thank you a lot also because now as Our Lady’s children, I don’t have a doubt that we are a family, and I promise to pray for you always and to love you. Please do pray for me, especially that I could be a good instrument to deliver Our Lord and Our Lady’s messages to the world. Please pray for me that I can guide the groups of the youth I have in my care in love. I ask you to pray that I am able to give proper love to my three children I have adopted and be a good mother.

And Valentine says in English “Thank you so much and I love you”.

A Thank You Note

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I want to thank you with all of my heart…all of you who attended my retreat last weekend. We all shared wonderful faith experiences, so much joy, tears and laughter together. I also wish to thank all of you who prayed for us and gave us support of any kind from far and near, and all of you who wanted to attend but couldn’t come for one reason or another. I also want to thank all of you who did so much work to care for one another at the retreat beyond what was expected of you. One of us said at the end of the day of Saturday “This is heaven, I don’t want the day to end.” The love and joy was palpable, another commented two days after the retreat, “Those present, literally, got to experience a little bit of Heaven. I will be eternally grateful to Immaculee, Valentine, Kathy, Katie, and the incredible staff of Walsh University for giving me 4 of the best days of my life! God Bless all of you. I wept for joy AGAIN last night as I was going to bed.”

I felt the same, not because of what was said, but because of the love that shone in everyone’s eyes, the willingness we all had to look at one another as a loved sister or brother and to be kind to each other in the smallest ways possible. There were men and women, children and adults, religious and lay people present, and together we prayed and shared reflections on Mary, Our Mother’s messages, on forgiveness, on prayer, on the rosary, and on LOVE…the greatest of all. In the near future, I hope we will have a DVD that will give you a glimpse of what it was like to be there. Sometimes it felt as though we had literally traveled to Rwanda, specifically to Kibeho, through the Rwandan songs we sang and danced, and the videos we watched of the countryside of people who have traveled there with me as pilgrims. One time the Virgin Mary told one visionary in Kibeho that, “Kibeho is not a place where I am, it is everywhere they are sharing my messages.” I believe She was there, and it was wonderful.

A special thank you goes to the Richard Jusseaume, the President of Walsh University, a very nice and funny man, and his lovely wife, Terie, along with his staff who spent the whole three days celebrating with us, as well as helping us. One time, he jokingly said to me, “If you would have asked that the president of Walsh University and his wife would be spending three days at a retreat here, I would have said ‘absolutely not!’ If you would have asked that some of my staff would stay here attending to people’s needs, I would have said that ’you are crazy’, but here we are, and we are happy. We had a great weekend, and everyone willingly did what their hearts suggested them to do to help, and they were here for everyone’s needs. There are simply those little intangible things that you can’t explain.” I want to say thanks again to everyone at Walsh University; there are no words, because without you, it would not have been possible.

So many comments were so uplifting to me and maybe will be encouraging to you as well:

"I was up early in the morning praying the Seven Sorrows Rosary, I was able to pray with love and tears for my church and priests, because I wasn’t drowning in my own pain and sorrow."

"I can’t think of anything that could’ve made this weekend better, except maybe more time…”.

"It was a wonderful experience as I truly needed the words of Immaculee and Valentine; my heart for the first time in long time felt a longing to be closer to my God, and that forgiveness and love are my keys to unlock my heart. I will pledge to pray and to pray often.”

"The retreat was above and beyond any of my expectations! My faith has been uplifted and renewed again. May you all be blessed a thousand-fold for this precious gift God blessed us with.”

I thank God for the weekend, for those great gifts He gave us, those we are aware of and those we are not yet aware of. For sure, I am glad we did it! I encourage you all to continue to grow closer to God through prayer that comes from the heart, prayer that transforms us slowly to look and love like Our Lady and Our Lord; prayer that is willing to look within our hearts each time we pray and see what we can do better in our ways to be more pleasing to God…being more patient, more forgiving, more kind, and prayer that shows through in our deeds and in our behavior. It is the sure way to true peace and firm trust in God.

I also encourage you to join the Apostles of Our Lady of Kibeho Facebook Page if you are interesting in learning more about Kibeho and Our Lady’s messages.

May God bless you,

Immaculee

Please Remember Haiti in Your Prayers

Hello all,

Please remember in your prayers, the people of Haiti, as they have suffered a devastating earthquake where many lives were lost, and untold amounts of people are still in need of rescue. Remember, what hurts one of us hurts us all. A special prayer for those who are from Haiti or who lost their loved ones, please take refuge in prayer for God to give you strength to endure this moment; know that light will come again and our loved-ones are not lost, but only moved to another world where we will all join them one day. Jesus and Mary were not spared of the pain of this world, and they were pure and innocent; ask them for strength to cross this bridge. Anyone who can help, please do, in your capacity, comfort those around you or whatever love you can offer, God will reward you.

Immaculee

Happy New Year: To Forgive is to Love and Visa Versa

Happy New Year to you dear friends! I wish you all the best! I started the New Year with YOU in mind, with thanksgiving to God for you who have shared my story by reading my books, you who have become my new family, you who share the same FAITH journey, and you, who in so many ways give me the strength to go on with my work because of your prayers and support. Your love does not go unnoticed, and my gratitude makes it effortless for me to pray and root for you as well. So in recognition of our confraternity, I give thanks to God and thank you with all my heart.

I would love to share a recent experience with you that touched me so much. Two days ago, I had my first speaking engagement of the year; it was beautiful to see a sold out, packed room of 1200 people, laughing and crying, and truly feeling like the one body we are. At the signing of the books, we shared so many emotions. One lady came and just pointed out with a finger to where to sign, I thought she couldn’t speak for health reasons, then I looked in her face; she was full of emotions…when we crossed eyes, she broke in tears, with hardly a sound coming out of her voice, she said, “I needed this today, thank you”, her silence spoke so much love and compassion. My cousin’s wife, who was sitting beside me and watched as people came and shared their stories with me, was touched as well. At one time she said, “Can I go to sit somewhere else?” I said, “Why?” Then she said, “I don’t think I can do this anymore,” as she was listening to the people sharing with me about how my story has helped them in their own lives. As I looked at her, she was already crying, and she said, “So many people are suffering and they are so good…” She is a survivor as well, and also lost her family during the genocide, but has never been able to talk about it before, until now. Later she said, “I think forgiveness is really the only way to free ourselves…” Remarkably, since that evening she has been talking about it and told me, “I have buried the pain far away but I know it is still there, and all these people who are opening their hearts… it is so beautiful and so okay to let go and forgive”. Somebody said that, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the flower leaves on the heel of the one that crushed it.” I do believe it.

We all crave for love, for peace, and for freedom. I do seek it daily. We are never done with forgiving or loving; it is our daily practice. The “school of life” we live in, is also the “school of love” and continually offers us new experiences. As we are often tested, every pain pulls a new muscle, and so we must learn to forgive again and again.

I wish you the best for the New Year! Remember always to seek the blessings of the day no matter what hurts you. At the end of the day, look back and see any goodness that was done to you and smile; it is a reminder that God loves you. It can be something as simple as someone who opened a door for you, someone who handed you a pen when you needed it, or somebody who served you coffee kindly at Starbucks or your local coffee shop. Find a reason to be grateful always, make an effort, life will be so much more. If something bad happened, offer it to God, try to learn something good from it, but don’t dwell on it. Remember to tell God, “Let your will be done, and I do trust in You,” and all will be well.

I hope to see many of you in Ohio next week for the retreat. I so look forward to seeing you and having a fruitful weekend. I also want to thank all of you who have joined my FaceBook Fan Page. Today, we celebrate passing the 5000 mark, all who joined in just a few short months! I love you, and I do keep you in my prayers. Please, let’s remember as we communicate that we are friends and always treat each other so!

Many blessings to you,

Immaculee

Remembering You This Christmas!

Dear friends,

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! I have you in my prayers on this joyful day. I pray that, this day is filled with all the Blessings God gives to the World, as we remember the day He sent us His Only Son, Our Lord to be born unto us, a day finally Jesus entered in this world in body, with a mission to save you, to love you, to teach you how to live this life no matter what it will cost Him, even unto death!

I wish to believe that we are all happy today, but I can’t forget YOU, YOU maybe who needs this message more than anyone, if for any reason YOU are not totally happy today, as you expected, maybe you are not with your loved ones, maybe you didn’t get a gift, or the one you like, or none at all, or you feel lonely or sick or maybe you don’t feel loved enough where you are, or you lost a loved one etc… Whatever it is, remember that, Jesus’ birth was not surrounded with roses, Our Lady and Joseph couldn’t even find a place to deliver the baby, and Yet He is the King of Heaven and Earth! His mission was fulfilled, and so yours will be, the reason you are born for, lean on Him, love Him and others for His sake not for their merits as He taught us and don’t let your heart be troubled if you believe in God, your joy will be restored. I love His words in Matt 11:29 "...take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls...." Us Christians are blessed, our strength is in our bended knees and in our uplifted hands!

It is said that it is on Christmas that God gives us more mercy than any other day, don’t miss it!